Write One Page Per Day – 117/365 – April 27, 2018

Part 4 – The Secret

Jeff sat in the sumac, holding the statue close to him, while he waited for the car Mario would send to get him. The minutes passed slowly as several cars pulled into the gas station and he checked the license plates for the symbol on his amulet.

“I don’t know what you’re doing, Cindy,” Jeff said, looking down at the statue, “and I’m sorry if this comes off as rude, but it’s not helping. Do you think the people who did this to you are looking for me?”

The statue stopped its rythmic warming and pulsed twice quickly.

“You’re sure I can trust Mario?” he asked.

Again, it pulsed twice.

“Can he help you get back to being normal? he asked.

The statue stayed cold this time.

Jeff felt a twinge of guilt. He didn’t know anything about how it was possible to turn a person into a self-aware statue, but clearly it could be done. He thought about Cindy when she was at his office. The way she smiled, her quirky personality, and her eccentric style of dress.

“I’m sorry.” He said as he fought back tears. “I’m sorry that I was so stupid and didn’t take all this seriously. It’s my fault you’re a statue now.”

The statue began its warming rhythm again. This time he knew that she was trying to comfort him. He clutched the statue tighter to his chest as the tears began sliding down his cheeks.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff saw a silver SUV pull into the parking lot, the license plate looked as though it belonged to the university system, but where the university emblem should have been, he saw the symbol scratched into the plate.

He used his sleeve to wipe the tears off his face, realizing that the statue had also gotten his tears on it, he quickly dabbed at it as well.

“Sorry, Cindy, I didn’t mean to get you wet.” Jeff said as he stood up.

He slowly stepped out of the patch of greenery as a man got out of the vehicle. The man saw him and stopped in his tracks.

“The Stranger is the cause of all this,” The man said without moving forward.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Jeff said as he approached him.

“Jeff Bezose?” The man asked, “Mario sent me to get you.”

“Let’s get out of her before -” Jeff said as he was cut off by the sound of screeching tires entering the lot. His heart skipped as he turned, expecting to see the men from the theater, but instead saw only a young kid with a mustang drifting it into the parking lot.

“It’s alright.” The man said, who Jeff saw was visibly tense when he turned around. “Let’s get you out of here.”